Is it just me?

WARNING THIS IS A RANTY TO FUCK POST

Right so I am on #CellBlockG54 ward G54 in Perth and I'm finding things a little difficult. I knew things would be different but I would expect to be able to speak to staff and then them understand me.

This, it appears is far too much to ask for from an English speaking country. They are either acting or I have no idea how these people became nurses (the majority of them NOT all of them) there are several things that have wound me up the past few days of being here and I'm not sure if it is them or just me.

Three incidents leap to mind right now and I shall recount them here and you can decide for yourself if it's them or me.

Incident One.

Set the Scene:- It's around 9pm and the night nurse has come in to get my evening meds, she asks
"Do you need creon?"
"No, I have them when I eat" My reply
"So you want some food?"
"No"
"So your having some creon now then?"
"No I only have creon when I have something to eat"
"Oh so you want some food now?"

Seriously it felt like this went on forever but seeing as I am out of that particular time loop it didn't but it wasn't the last bout of weirdness.

Incident Two.

Setting the Scene:- Again in the evening (it might be a night nurse thing now I think about it) again around evening drug time.

"So your due a Hyper Tonic Saline (HTS) now?" I had just started this treatment that afternoon and told the physio due to it making my throat irritated I would work up to three times a day. So I answered
"No, I've had it today"
"It's written up for three times a day" I then went on to explain what I had agreed with the physio that afternoon.
"So are you having this HTS now or a little later?" It's the creon debacle all over again in a different guise.
"No I'm not I just told you what I have agreed with Jamie" Jamie is the physio in question in case you were wondering.
"Well I'll have to get the doctors to change that"
"Fine but they'll only have to change it back in a few days when I am doing it three times a day" This sentence was met with an odd look that made me think staff aren't used to patients refusing treatment or questioning "What is Written".
"Just write down that I've refused treatment" I said this and she did look ever so surprised like it was a secret code only a few select individuals know about.
"Yes I suppose I will" She smiled and left me too it.

Incident Three:-

The Scene, as if you couldn't guess the theme by now was again late in the evening. This evening I was to resume PEG feeding, I have a button and in the afternoon explained what adaptor I needed to connect the giving set to my button. Apart from the "feed" not being feed but a few bottles of supplements thrown in a bag and set up didn't bother me much. Again I had to explain what I needed and she toddled off came back and informed me that there were none in the entire hospital not a one. So she asked......

"Do you do this at home?"
"Sometimes..."
"Well tomorrow can maybe you go home and get some of them?"
"erm...... no I'm not from here and whilst travelling I haven't been feeding"
"Why don't you carry these things with you?" As she said this I really did think she was joking as she knew I'd been travelling, we'd spoke about it the night before, but as I turned to her the look on her face was deadpan serious.
"Well whilst I've been travelling round South East Asia I haven't really been feeding as I cant carry the pump, the giving sets, the feed, along with all my other medication" Just as seriously as I was getting rather vexed at this type of thing happening more often. So she left me alone for a while then when putting up my i.v's for the night she asked.
"Do you drink? Like drink water?" Deadly fucking serious, I kid you not do I drink water? What the fuck kind of question is that followed by
"Do you eat?" Twenty minutes before she asked me that she'd brought me a banana what did she think I was going to do with that?
"Yeah I drink water" and just held up the as yet uneaten banana shook it and nodded my head toward it knowingly, she didn't say anything else and left the room.

and that my dear friends is just three of the things, like I said to begin with talking to some of the nursing staff is just plain difficult. Don't ask me if I want something if it's actually something you want. This was a pillow to prop my arm on whilst she changed the dressing on my PICC line I'm capable of keeping my arm straight whilst you put a new dressing on, You want my arm on a pillow so just ask that.
As the title of the post suggest's I'm not all together sure if it's just me or it is them. I'll keep an eye on it and mention any other battle of words later on.

Time to rest up, get better and join the workforce.

Peace V 

(I'd do two fingers but a V will just have to do)